It might be feasible to remove the idler and turn it down a bit, to eliminate the notch. The exact diameter is not critical.The other, perhaps more common cause for such a notch is the idler being left in the play position, with no power to the motor.

Alec124c41 wrote:It might be feasible to remove the idler and turn it down a bit, to eliminate the notch. The exact diameter is not critical.The other, perhaps more common cause for such a notch is the idler being left in the play position, with no power to the motor.

Cheers,Alec

I was thinking of turning it down a little as well but would be afraid of making it out if round and possibly taking too much off making it smaller than it should be.

Why do you say that the size isn't that critical? Wouldn't the wrong size wheel throw the rpm's off?

As it sits right now, the rpm's are just about spot on as it's spinning just a hair fast.

a new wheel is preferable to a turned down old one.the smaller the diameter, the less force the spring can exert on the idler arm.the dent in the rubber if the idler wheel can change density of that point as well,so taking off material to create a round wheel may not be without detriment.

there are many factors in lowering the rumbel of an idler turntable.good that you found a replacement. good luck!

a new wheel is preferable to a turned down old one.the smaller the diameter, the less force the spring can exert on the idler arm.the dent in the rubber if the idler wheel can change density of that point as well,so taking off material to create a round wheel may not be without detriment.

there are many factors in lowering the rumbel of an idler turntable.good that you found a replacement. good luck!

regards,bas

That makes plenty of sense. That's why I figured I'd just buy a replacement rather than try to fix the one I have. I'd hate to spend the time attempting to repair the original and have it still not meet spec.

fromans4 wrote:My father used to have that same model back when I was a teenager. I was taught how to treat and use records by my father with that turntable.

The Miracord had already been passed down to my mother when my father had bought a brand new Technics SL-1700 Mk II in 1979 as an upgrade. I was only four then but had already showed an interest in music and believe it or not, stereo equipment. I watched him and my two oldest brothers use their TT's all the time, so it was just a few years later when I was 7 or so when I was allowed and trusted to use the Miracord on my own on my mother's small system.

Because of the battleship arm, the tuntable looks like one you would find in a Barbie and Ken home upgrade, it looks out of scale. But kinda cool.

But if it sounds good, then that's all that matters.

If you can't find a new ider wheel then you have two suggestions from this later comer. Although, as always, Alec's suggstion of sanding down the whole circumference to get it smooth is the way to go.

One. Find an old idler wheel (all we are looking for here is similar material), fine sand paper, collect the sandings, add to a mix of thinned two part epoxy, and overfill the dent in the circumference. When hard, sand with fine sand paper for a smooth new circumference.

Two. To bump out the dent, screw a very small self tapping screw 1mm inboard of the dent. Use fine sand paper for a smooth new circumference. Cut the screw head off if you don't have space here.

And three. Call Barbie, invite her over to listen to your new records.

Alec124c41 wrote:When you get inside, right should be fed by red and green wires from the arm, and left by white and blue.

Cheers,Alec

That's the problem. There's only two wires coming from the tonearm, both of which look like one side of standard speaker wire in copper.

Click on the link below and you should be able to blow the picture up to full size. The tonearm wires are at the top left of the image right above the large gear. They're the only wires on there that look like speaker wire.

Spinnr wrote:Chops, sorry for the late reply, you were right to berate us idlers.

Because of the battleship arm, the tuntable looks like one you would find in a Barbie and Ken home upgrade, it looks out of scale. But kinda cool.

But if it sounds good, then that's all that matters.

If you can't find a new ider wheel then you have two suggestions from this later comer. Although, as always, Alec's suggstion of sanding down the whole circumference to get it smooth is the way to go.

One. Find an old idler wheel (all we are looking for here is similar material), fine sand paper, collect the sandings, add to a mix of thinned two part epoxy, and overfill the dent in the circumference. When hard, sand with fine sand paper for a smooth new circumference.

Two. To bump out the dent, screw a very small self tapping screw 1mm inboard of the dent. Use fine sand paper for a smooth new circumference. Cut the screw head off if you don't have space here.

And three. Call Barbie, invite her over to listen to your new records.

Viny forever.

No worries.

The tonearm looks like a tank, but it's really not. It feels like a medium weight arm and doesn't seem to have a problem tracking anything I throw at it.

As for the idler wheel, I already purchased a replacement from a 50H donor. It's supposed to be in great shape.

Oh, and Barbie is too much of an air head. I wouldn't be able to put up with her for more than two minutes! LOL

Just finished soldering in the new interconnects. I made it a half meter longer than the old cable. It's a Belkin component video cable that I pulled the "green" strand from and left the blue and red for the left and right channels. It's very flexible with a nice thick jacket. There's a noticeable improvement in sound too. Stronger, punchier, cleaner, more presence and a quieter background. It's almost as if I upgraded the cartridge! Definitely worth the effort.

Been away from here for a little while. A LOT of crazy stuff has happened in the past few months. With my old Technics integrated amp pooping out on me, then the holidays, buying a '91 Mazda MX-5 which I've been devoting time and money on, then very sadly, my mother passing away last month unexpectedly which could have been completely avoided IF the doctor did what he was supposed to do... but I'm not going to get into that here. I will say that he'll probably be loosing his license soon though. So I've been keeping my father company as well as helping with stuff around the house, etc, etc...

Anyway, back on topic...

As for the Technics integrated amp replacement, I now have a 1950's Baldwin tube amp that's been converted over to stereo, then I did a total recap on it minus the bypass caps. I also rolled all the tubes in it several times until I got the optimum combo that I like and works well with the NHT 2.9's. It uses two 5U4 rectifier tubes, two 5751 driver tubes, and a quad of Russian coin based 6N3P-E's which are equivalent to 6L6's. This is good for a very solid 23 watts or so.

Since the Baldwin is just an amp, I needed a good preamp that had plenty of inputs including a number of phono inputs. Enter the highly acclaimed Accuphase C-200. This thing has inputs out the ying-yang including two phono inputs, one MM and one MC, both of which have adjustable gain as well as load matching on one of them, is in mint shape inside and out and sounds excellent. I replaced a couple of resistors on the power supply board, then replaced all eight of the various power supply and filter caps. Both units have been operating flawlessly for the past couple of months and sounds much better than the Technics ever did.

Anyway, remember that Elac 50H idler wheel I bought a while back? Well I got it in the mail and it looks brand new. However, under closer inspection, the center hole is much smaller than that of the 40A, so I wasn't able to use it. So I'm still on a search for a replacement idler wheel. I've tried sanding the original one down some but it didn't seem to do much good.

I really want to get a new or replacement idler wheel for this Elac Miracord 40A so I can start using it again with zero noise and the current idler wheel is the only thing making any noise on it. It's find when the music is at a normal level, but gets annoying on quiet passages.

Any ideas on where to find one?

Here's a few pics of the "new" gear...

The caps that replace the two large multi-section aluminum caps on top of the amp...